Mariana Macias

I'm Mariana, a Penn student splitting my time between lab research and community health work. At the Shorter Lab, I identified RNA candidates that suppress TDP-43 toxicity and built a human-cell assay for future therapeutic testing. At CHOP's Abdulmalik Lab, I run assays on hemoglobin-targeting compounds and am co-author on two peer-reviewed publications. Outside the lab, I direct community outreach for The Janie Foundation and co-founded the Philadelphia Lung Cancer Screening Initiative, which now reaches 500+ people. Ask me about sickle cell disease research, ALS and TDP-43 biology, building health nonprofits as a student, and lung cancer screening access.